Jinchuurikis in a Land of Demons
by Moon Lily91
Summary: Three jinchuurikis end up in Feudal Japan, where demons roam. Seems like the demon-containers must face the real demons. Inuyasha/Naruto cross over. Pairings: hmm, maybe but it will be whatever I want them to be. Ch. 5 up!
1. Welcome to Feudal Japan

Moonlight Wolf: I have no idea where I got this idea for this story. It just popped into my head. Anyway, this is my first cross-over so yeah. Don't be afraid to review.

**Jinchuurikis in a Land of Demons**

Three figures walked through the moonlit night on a worn path. The tallest of the group had blond hair and whisker-like markings on his face. He wore a jumpsuit that was orange and black and he had deep blue eyes. His name was Naruto. The other figure was shorter than him by a bit. He had red hair and strange dark rings around his eyes, signs that he didn't get any sleep. He wore a maroon coat and carried a gourd on his back. His eyes were sky blue and had the kanji of love on his forehead. His name is Gaara. The last member was the only female in the group. She had light blue hair and violet eyes, along with a white crescent moon mark by each one. She had the same marks on her hands and feet. She wore a white kimono that had light blue sleeves that matched her hair. Her name is Tsukiko. These three were ninjas from their villages. Naruto came from the Hidden Leaf, Gaara from Hidden Sand, and Tsukiko from Hidden Mist. Their lives in the villages weren't exactly perfect since they were hated for their demons that were sealed within them.

Naruto held Kyuubi, the nine-tailed fox, Gaara held Shukaku, the one-tailed tanuki, and Tsukiko held Ryuu, the moon dragon. They ran away from their villages when they were twelve and eventually found each other. They decided to stay together and formed their group. They now roam the land as missing-nin and refuse to return to their villages.

"Hey, guys? Can we rest now? I'm really tired." asked Naruto.

"I'm not so sure." replied Gaara.

"We did cover a lot of distance today. It wouldn't hurt to rest." said Tsukiko.

"Alright, we can rest."

Naruto sat down on a rock and Tsukiko sat down beside him. Gaara was the only one standing up. He looked up at the sky and saw that it was a full moon. He looked at the environment, not recognizing it at all.

"Where, exactly, are we?" he asked. Both Tsukiko and Naruto looked at the geography, looking just as confused as Gaara.

"I don't know where we are. Do you, Naruto?" asked Tsukiko.

"No, but this place gives me the creeps."

Tsukiko sighed and looked down the road. She caught sight of lit houses in the distance, undoubtedly a village.

"There's a village over there. I bet we can find a place to stay." she said.

"Do you think that village has heard of what we've done?" asked Gaara.

"I doubt it. I mean, this place feels different than the other nations we traveled through." said Naruto.

Naruto and Tsukiko got up while Gaara already started walking away. They followed him and they soon were in the village. This village looked different than all the other villages that they've seen. They split up and began to search for a place to stay in. Tsukiko found a place and called over Naruto and Gaara.

"We can stay over there." she said. They walked to where she was talking about and were greeted by an older man. He looked like he was in his sixty's or so.

"So the young girl wasn't lying. You three can stay in one of the available rooms we have."

He then led them to their room, which looked fairly nice. "There you go. You youngsters shouldn't be traveling around at night. The demons may find you."

"Demons?" said Gaara.

"Yes, there are many demons around these parts. You have to watch your back."

"We can take care of ourselves."

"I sure hope so." he said then left them alone.

"Something tells me that this land isn't like our homelands." said Tsukiko.

"Do you think we'll run into a demon?" asked Naruto.

"Maybe. That old man said that there are a lot around here."

"I doubt it. Go to sleep already." said Gaara.

Tsukiko and Naruto layed down in their own beds and went to sleep. Gaara, however, wasn't going to sleep. He couldn't go to sleep or Shukaku might take over. This kind of made him dependable at night since he could keep watch at night. He wanted to go to sleep but he can't. He knew he can't. He once fell asleep and the results weren't nice. He walked over to a corner of the room, where it was darkest, and sat down. He watched his two friends sleep peacefully, envying them a bit. There was some light from the moon He heard footsteps outside his room and he cautiously watched the door. The door slowly slid open(it's those sliding doors.) and someone stepped into the room. The darkness of the room made it hard to see who it was but, nevertheless, this was an intruder. The intruder stepped just as cautiously as Gaara was watching. They seemed to have noticed Gaara despite the lack of light in the room.

"Don't you sleep, kid?" said the intruder, who was obviously a guy, probably a bandit.

"It doesn't concern you. Leave if you know what's best for you."

"Who do you think you are? I'll teach you to show some manners!"

The intruder pulled out a small knife and its blade reflected the moonlight that came through the window. Tsukiko and Naruto began to wake up and were surprised to find this person in their room. Before anything could happen, sand began to surround the intruder until he was incapable of moving. Naruto and Tsukiko, aware of what was going to happen next, pulled the sheets over them, covering themselves completely. Gaara clenched his hand into a fist and blood shot everywhere. The sand dispersed and crawled back into Gaara's gourd. Tsukiko and Naruto pulled the sheets off them and sat up.

"Um, how are we going to explain this to that old man?" said Naruto.

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"C'mon, Kagome! Hurry up!" said Inuyasha impatiently.

"Maybe I would if I didn't have to carry this heavy bag!" struggling to carry the yellow bag on her back. Inuyasha growled and took the bag away from her and carried it on his own back.

"Stop fighting already!" said Shippo, the little fox demon.

"We should have left an hour ago." said Sango, picking up her weapon.

"Well, maybe we would be on time if Kagome didn't take forever!" said Inuyasha.

"Don't blame this whole thing on me! I have to study for a test that's two weeks from now. This is one of the most important ones throughout the school year! I have to bring my books with me!"

"There, there." interuppted Miroku, the monk. "Fighting isn't going to get us anywhere. Let's forget the whole thing and move on."

"I agree with Miroku!" said Shippo.

The group set off on another trip through the land. After half an hour, they stopped by a village. Lots of people were whispering about something. One thing that Inuyasha was able to pick up with his dog ears was 'there was blood splattered all over the room'. That was definitely not a good thing. They walked by a building just in time to see a dead body be dragged out.

"My, my." said the old man, who was watching two men drag the body out. "I didn't anticipate that those children would do something like this."

"What children are you talking about?" asked Kagome politely.

"Three children, about your age, stopped by here for a place to stay. This morning, they left and the girl with them said 'Sorry about the mess.' I at first didn't know what she was talking about until I checked on the room they were staying in. There was blood everywhere and I believe it belonged to that unfortunate man."

"What did these children look like?" asked Sango.

"One had blond hair, whisker marks on his cheeks, and wears a strange type of clothing that's orange and black. Another had red hair, black rings around his eyes, the 'ai' kanji on his forehead, and he carried a gourd on his back. There was a girl with them and she had light blue hair, strange crescent moons on her face, and she wore a kimono."

"They could be demons in disguise." inquired Miroku.

"You really think they could be demons?" asked Shippo.

"I don't know but I catch the scent of blood. Seems like one of them really likes it." added Inuyasha.

"Besides, what if they work for Naraku?" said Sango.

"You have a point there, but what would Naraku want with them?" asked Kagome.

"Maybe we should ask for ourselves!" said Inuyasha, following the scent of blood. The rest of the gang followed him, not sure what they are in for.

* * *

Moonlight Wolf: I'm usually the type that won't work on a story until I finish a previous one but I had to make an exception for this! This one sounds really good to me so I put it up. Anyway, don't be afraid to review. Demons aren't going to come after you if you do.


	2. And So They Meet

Moonlight Wolf: Alright, chapter number 2! Going on a good start so far! Yay! Sorry, I feel a little hyper.

**Jinchuurikis in a Land of Demons**

"Now that I think about it, we should have cleaned up that mess we left." said Tsukiko.

"You really think that we should have cleaned up all that blood?" asked Naruto.

"You're right. There was too much blood everywhere."

"Man, Gaara, can't we go anywhere without you killing someone?"

"It wasn't my fault. That guy snuck into the room so it was all on him." replied Gaara.

"Lets drop the subject." said Tsukiko.

They continued walking down the path, unaware that they were being watched. Tsukiko then had a strange feeling and she began to look around cautiously.

"What is it, Tsukiko?" asked Naruto.

"We're being watched."

"By who?" asked Gaara.

"I'm not sure."

In the air, unbeknownst to the them, was a wasp-like insect, hovering through the air. It watched a little while longer then flew off into the distance. The trio continued their walk until a centipede demon appeared in front of them.

"What in the world is that!?" asked Naruto.

"Don't know but whatever it is, it picked the wrong people to mess with!" said Tsukiko, her hands changing into dragon claws. Sand began to flow out of Gaara's gourd, ready for what will happen. Naruto did the Shadow Clone jutsu, summoning ten clones of himself. Naruto and Tsukiko, being the close-range combatants they are, rushed in at the demon. Naruto used his Rasengan to destroy part of the demon but it was still alive. Tsukiko weakened it further by using her claws on it. Gaara finished it off with his Desert Funeral jutsu.

"Hey, do you think that was a demon?" asked Tsukiko, looking at the remains of the centipede.

"Most likely since that old man said that there were demons around here." replied Gaara.

"Well, at least we know what they look like around these parts." said Naruto.

"Yeah...We should get going now. No use wasting our time here." said Tsukiko.

The three then walked off, continuing on with their journey.

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Inuyasha came to a stop when he saw the corpse of the centipede demon. The rest of the group caught up with him and saw the dead demon as well.

"Do you think those kids did this?" asked Kagome, quite surprised of the idea.

"They did it all right." replied Inuyasha, sniffing the air. Miroku went up to the demon and placed an exorcism slip on it so that its spirit would be put to rest and not return. He examined the dark blood and guessed that the demon died not too long ago. "This blood is somewhat fresh so we're getting close to them." he said. They went off again, using Inuyasha's sense of smell to follow their scent. They traveled until sunset, but were unable to find the group.

"I think we should stop and make camp." said Kagome.

"No way! We're close now! I can smell it!" protested Inuyasha.

"Maybe we should. I mean, we've been following them since this morning. I think it's time that we take a rest." reasoned Sango.

"Whatever. You guys can rest but I'm going ahead." said Inuyasha.

"No, Inuyasha. We don't know what these children are capable of. It's best if we continue our search by morning." said Miroku. Inuyasha growled but gave in to his friends' reasons, though he wasn't happy with it. They made a small fire and went to sleep. The next morning, Inuyasha woke up everyone before dawn. Well, it wasn't dark since the sun was going to rise at any moment. The whole group wasn't happy that they had to wake up so early but Inuyasha insisted that they get a head start in finding the three children. They all got up and followed Inuyasha, yawning quite a bit along the way which slowly annoyed the half-demon. Meanwhile, the three jinchuurikis were stopping by a village to find something to eat. However, there were no shops or restaurants that sold food since this village was basically one for farmers and homes.

"Aw, man! I'm starving!" whined Naruto.

"You're not the only one." said Tsukiko, her stomach growling.

"Why don't we just go by people's homes and ask for food?"

"That will make us look pathetic." said Gaara.

The three stopped in their tracks and began to argue about what they should do. Naruto thought that they should just ask people food and that they will eventually get some. Tsukiko suggested that they should just take some food from the fields. Gaara wanted to just forge for some food outside the village since he didn't want to degrade himself by asking others for food. Each of them had their own ideas but they couldn't agree on one. As they argued, Inuyasha and the gang entered the village.

"They're probably some where around here or they just passed by." said Inuyasha, sniffing the air again.

"I hope we find them soon. I'm really tired of looking for them." yawned Kagome.

"We could ask the villagers if they've seen them." suggested Sango. Everyone agreed to Sango's suggestion and they split up to ask the residents of the village if they've seen the children. Miroku, being the womanizer he is, decided to take advantage of this to ask the women of the village. He was able to have some women fall under his spell until he caught sight of a blue-haired girl in a white kimono. She was with two other boys and they appeared to be arguing about something. She looked the same age as Kagome so it would be worth a shot. Tsukiko, seeing that she was losing the arguement, decided to wander off while Gaara and Naruto settled this themselves. She went off a bit, some distance away so that she couldn't be seen by them. She wandered a bit until a monk wearing violet and black robes came up to her.

"What's a beautiful young woman like yourself doing all alone?" he asked.

"My friends are having a bit of an arguement so I decided to wander off."

"Is that so?" Miroku then took her hands and held them in his own. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but would you do the honor of bearing my children?"

"I don't even know you!" said Tsukiko, pulling her hands away. She began to walk back to Gaara and Naruto and that's when Miroku realized that these were the ones that they were looking for. He followed Tsukiko until Gaara and Naruto saw him.

"Hey, Tsukiko, who's that?" asked Naruto. Tsukiko turned around and noticed that Miroku had followed her.

"Ignore him. So have you two made up your minds yet?"

"Allow me to introduce myself." said Miroku. "I'm Miroku and I'm a monk. My friends and I have been searching for you."

"What do you need from us?" asked Gaara with an emotionless tone.

"Well, we saw what you did to some unfortunate man and what you did to that centipede demon."

"You saw what we did?"

"We weren't witnesses, if that's what you think."

"Hey, Miroku!" said Inuyasha along with the others. "Hmph, it looks like you've found them."

"You're the ones that killed that demon!?" asked Kagome. "How old are you three?"

"Fifteen." replied Tsukiko. Kagome was amazed that they were the same age as her.

"What are your names?" asked Sango.

"I'm Naruto!" said Naruto. "And this is Tsukiko and Gaara!"

"Aren't you three a little young to be traveling by yourselves?" asked Inuyasha.

"No, we can take care of ourselves." replied Tsukiko.

"So what do you three do?" asked Shippo, whose appearance slightly startled the three jinchuurikis.

"Nice tail." said Tsukiko, bending over and staring at the little fox demon. "What are you?"

"I'm a fox demon!" said Shippo proudly.

"You're a fox demon!?" said Naruto. "That's so weird because I have a fox demon inside of me!"

At that, Tsukiko went over to him and gave him a punch in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for!?"

"You idiot! You're not supposed to tell anyone about that!"

"You have a fox demon?" asked Inuyasha.

Tsukiko then glared at Naruto, which began to scare him. "Nice going! Now we have to explain everything about ourselves because of you!" she said angrily. "I am so going to kill you!"

"My, my. You're a violent one." said Miroku, appearing behind her. "You need to learn to be more softer." Then Miroku's hand groped her behind, which made her shriek. Kagome and Sango were very angered by his action. Tsukiko turned around and gave him a good punch on the cheek, which was more painful than the many slaps he had gotten. "Do that again and I'll rip your arm off!" she threatened.

"And once she does that, I'll kill you." said Gaara, pulling Tsukiko away from him.

"Excuse me but I didn't know that she was already taken." said Miroku. Tsukiko blushed lightly but it quickly faded away. "Hey, I'm not taken!" she said.

"Why don't you three join us?" asked Kagome, politely. "I mean, you're not doing anything, are you?"

"No, not really." replied Naruto. "What do you think, guys?"

Tsukiko and Gaara gave it some thought and they agreed to join them. After all, what harm can three jinchuurikis do?

* * *

Moonlight Wolf: So what do you think!? Like it? Hate it? Let me know please. I'll put up ch. 3 as soon as possible.


	3. Questions and Explanations

**Jinchuurikis in a Land of Demons**

"Do you guys have any food?" asked Naruto. "See, I'm starving right now."

"Sorry, but we don't." replied Kagome. "But if we go to the well, I'm sure I can bring some food for you three."

"That would be great! See, Gaara? It's not so hard to ask people for food!"

"Why do you need to go to a well?" asked Gaara, ignoring Naruto's comment.

"You'll see." said Kagome.

They walked off to where the well was, which took a fairly long time to get there. But they kept themselves busy by asking the three teenagers some questions.

"Where do you come from?" asked Sango, carrying Kirara in her arms.

"We're from different villages." replied Tsukiko. "I'm from the Hidden Mist village, Gaara's from the Hidden Sand, and Naruto is from the Hidden Leaf."

"Talk about strange names for villages." commented Inuyasha.

"Each village is from a different nation. There are five great shinobi nations but there are a lot more other nations. The great five are just the strongest."

"Shinobi? So you are ninjas?" asked Sango.

"Yeah, we are."

"But why are you three traveling around and not with your villages?" asked Miroku.

"That's best left unsaid." replied Gaara.

"So what was all that talk about you having a fox demon?" asked Inuyasha to Naruto.

"It's nothing!" quickly replied Tsukiko. "Naruto can get so hyper that he doesn't know what he is talking about!"

"Uh, yeah!" agreed Naruto.

"Wait a minute. Don't you have a family that is worrying about you?" asked Kagome.

"Um, I'm an orphan." replied Naruto. "Tsukiko and Gaara have families though."

Kagome looked at the other two, who simply looked down.

"I have a family that loves me but my village hates me. I didn't want to live in a place where almost everyone hated me." replied Tsukiko.

"My entire village, including my family, hate and fear me." replied Gaara.

"Wow, he has it rough." thought Kagome.

"My village hated me too." added Naruto.

"Why do your villages hate you?" asked Shippo.

"Like Gaara said, 'It's best left unsaid.'"

They arrived at a village where there was a shrine atop a number of steps. Then an old woman walked up to them. She was wearing a red and white kimono with an eye patch over one eye.

"Glad to see you return." she said. "And who are your guests?"

"Hi, Lady Kaede!" said Shippo happily. "That's Gaara, Naruto, and Tsukiko. They're ninjas!"

"Oh, is that so? I'm Lady Kaede, priestess of the shrine in this village."

"Hey, guys, I'll be back. I'm going to go get some food for these three." said Kagome, walking away. Out of curiousity, the three jinchuurikis followed her, along with Shippo. They followed her until they reached an empty well.

"Is this the well you were talking about?"asked Tsukiko.

"It is. It let's me get back home to my own time. Alright, I'll see you later!" Kagome jumped into the well, which startled Tsukiko and Naruto. They looked into the well and found that she was gone.

"What happened?" asked Naruto.

"Kagome is from the future where there's a lot of good food!" replied Shippo.

"The future?"

"Yeah, this well transports her to that time and she can come back whenever she wants. Only her and Inuyasha can go in the well."

"Speaking of which, what is he?" asked Tsukiko. "I mean, he has dog ears and claws."

"He's a dog demon but he's only a half-demon."

"Half-demon?" said Gaara, a hint of interest in his tone.

"In this land, there are humans and demons. But there are also half-demons, someone who isn't fully a demon or human."

"So they're like a mix, right?" said Naruto.

"Kind of but those who are half-demon are despised by both humans and demons. And it's a little unfair since half-demons are in the middle between demons and humans, and they have no say in it."

"We can relate to that."

"Really? How?" said a voice from behind them. They turned and saw the half-demon there, a rather serious look on his face. "I know that you three are hiding something. After all, I can smell blood in that gourd."

"We're not hiding anything!" said Tsukiko.

"Yeah, sure. Your hands reek of blood too."

Tsukiko's eyes widened with surprise at this. He must really be a demon if he can smell the scent of blood in Gaara's gourd and on her hands.

"Anyway, I suggest you tell me what you are hiding before I have to use force."

"Inuyasha! Leave them alone!" protested Shippo.

"Stay out of it, Shippo! It's between me and these three."

"Should we just tell him?" asked Naruto.

"I think we should. I mean, he's a real demon after all. And I bet he'll understand." said Tsukiko. "What do you think, Gaara?"

"There is no point in hiding this secret." replied Gaara. "He can smell the blood so we have to explain that."

"Oh, can I do it!?" asked Naruto, eagerly.

"No, Tsukiko will do it."

"What?" said Tsukiko. Gaara gave her a glare and she sighed. "Okay, fine."

"So are ya going to tell me or not?" asked Inuyasha, growing very impatient.

"Um, we're...Jinchuurikis."

"What's a jinchuuriki?"

"It means the power of human sacrifice. You see, we have demons that are sealed within us and a life must be sacrificed in order for the seal to be effective."

"So you're demons?"

"No, we're human but we have a demon inside of us...But some people don't see that."

Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest and began to think. "What kind of demons do you have?" he finally asked.

"I have a dragon demon, Gaara has a tanuki demon, and Naruto has a fox demon. Gaara and Naruto have bijuus in them since their demons are tailed beasts. Mine is just a moon demon."

"And why do you have demons in you in the first place?"

"I have Ryuu because my mother did it to save my life. I'm not supposed to be alive right now, if it weren't for Ryuu." Tsukiko looked at Naruto and Gaara so that they can explain their own stories.

"The nine-tailed fox attacked my village and in order to save the village, the Fourth Hokage sealed Kyuubi in me." said Naruto.

"Shukaku is in me because I was to make up for the reduction in my village's ninjas."

"Hm, so you're humans that contain demons. You're somewhat like a half demon." said Inuyasha.

"Sort of but we were forced into containing these demons. We never really asked for it." explained Tsukiko.

"Same here. I didn't ask to be a half-demon. That's why me and my friends are collecting shards of Shikon Jewel. With it, I can finally be a full fledged demon."

"Shikon Jewel?"

"It's the Jewel of Four Souls. It holds great power, even in a single shard. We have some of the shards but there's another demon collecting them too."

"Who?" asked Naruto, very interested in this jewel.

"His name's Naraku and he's also a half-demon. He's trying to make the jewel whole so that he can be a demon."

"Just like you."

"Yeah, but I'll kill him before he makes the jewel whole."

"How are you going to do that?" asked Gaara.

"I'll kill him with Tetsaiga!" he said, pulling out his sword which transformed into a huge blade.

"Impressive." commented Gaara with his emotionless tone.

"Wow! Can I hold it!?" asked Naruto excitedly.

"Yeah, sure." said Inuyasha putting away the sword. He held out the sword for Naruto to get it. However, when Naruto touched it, it zapped him.

"Ow! Hey, is it supposed to do that?"

"Hm, it's probably because of the demon in you. Tetsaiga doesn't let any demon hold it."

"Hey, everyone! I'm back!" said Kagome's voice from the well. She got out of the well, struggling to pull out her bag out of the well.

"I got it!" said Naruto, helping her with her bag.

"Thanks, Naruto. That was really nice of you...Unlike someone!" said Kagome, eyeing Inuyasha.

"Don't look at me like that! If you wanted help, you should have asked!" said Inuyasha.

"You saw me struggling with my bag! That obviously meant that I needed help!"

"Hey, did you bring the food?" interuppted Naruto.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I did. C'mon, let's go inside so we can eat."

Everyone walked away from the well and went inside, where Miroku, Sango, and Kaede were already waiting. They sat down and Kagome started to hand out food for everyone, and Naruto was happy that he got ramen since it was his favorite food. After they were done eating, Gaara, Tsukiko, and Naruto left to explore the village. Time flew by and it was already nightfall. Naruto went back inside to sleep since he never really was a night owl. Tsukiko and Gaara sat down on a tree branch and looked at the sky. Kagome, who was looking for them, saw them and quickly hid herself behind some bushes. She watched them carefully.

"Do you want me to stay up with you?" asked Tsukiko.

"No, you go on ahead and get some sleep."

"Hm, okay then. See you in the morning." Tsukiko jumped off the tree and landed gracefully on the ground. She walked by the bushes, where Kagome was hiding herself, and stopped.

"You can come out." said Tsukiko. Kagome got out of the bushes with a look of embarassment on her face.

"How'd you know I was there?"

"I'm a kunoichi. I know these kind of things. Why were you spying on me?"

"No reason. So do you have any feelings for Gaara?"

"What? He's my friend!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. What makes you think that I do?"

"You're always around him so I thought-"

"Of course I'm always around him. We travel together and we protect each other. Same thing goes for Naruto."

Kagome gave her a look of suspicion but it quickly faded away.

"Well, let's go inside and get some sleep."

"Sure."

The two girls went inside, while Inuyasha stepped out. He saw Gaara sitting on the tree, staring at the moon. He walked up to the tree and effortlessly jumped on a different branch.

"What are you doing up?" asked Inuyasha.

"I can't sleep."

"Why? Do you have sleeping problems or something?"

"If I sleep, Shukaku will take over."

"Your demon takes over when you fall asleep? How do you get rest?"

"I just rest. There is no need for me to sleep."

"I can't imagine going through life without sleeping. Have you fallen asleep by accident?"

"I have...And it almost killed my friends."

"How long have you and your friends been traveling?"

"Three years."

"Not bad. Hey, I'm going to get some sleep now. If you try anything funny, you're going to regret it."

Gaara didn't answer back but just stared at the moon. Inuyasha leaned against the trunk of the tree and began to fall asleep. He wasn't quite comfortable sleeping there with Gaara still awake. After all, Gaara wasn't trustworthy yet so he pretty much has to sleep with one eye open. Then he began to worry about his friends. What if the demons of the other two suddenly take control and attack? Well, his friends are strong and demons are no trouble for them. There wasn't a reason to worry...But you never know if such a thing might happen.

* * *

Moonlight Wolf: Sorry if this is a little late but I wasn't allowed on the computer for a while. Anyway, I'm glad that I'm done with this chapter. Now I can work on the next one.


	4. We Don't Belong Here

Sorry if this is late but I wasn't allowed on the computer. Okay, on with the story.

**Jinchuurikis in a Land of Demons**

Inuyasha's eyes slowly opened, only to see a pair of violet eyes staring at him. He jumped a little in surprise which made Tsukiko chuckle.

"I scared you! Hey, Naruto! I scared him! You have to pay up!"

Naruto, who was upside down on the branch that Inuyasha and Tsukiko were on, groaned a bit.

"Can I pay you some other time?"

"Why?"

"I don't have money right now."

"Then why did you bet in the first place!?"

"I thought I was going to win. That is, if a certain someone didn't get scared."

"First of all, I was not scared!" protested Inuyasha. "She just caught me off guard."

"Excuses, excuses." said Tsukiko, jumping onto another branch where Gaara was sitting at. "Morning, Gaara." Gaara merely looked at her then turned his attention toward the horizon.

"We should leave." said Gaara.

"What? Already?" said Naruto, jumping over to the same branch.

"Why are you leaving so soon?" asked Inuyasha.

"It's best that we don't stay in one place for too long." replied Gaara.

"Hey, you guys!" said a female voice. Everyone looked to see Kagome standing by the tree. "Hey, Tsukiko, would you mind if I did your hair?"

"Don't bother, Kagome." said Inuyasha, jumping down to the ground. "They're leaving which is good because I can't stand the scent of blood anymore."

"You're just mad because I scared you!" said Tsukiko.

"You did NOT scare me! You only startled me!"

"That's not what it looked like."

"What!? Why don't you come and say it to my face, you little brat!"

"Fine! I will!"

Tsukiko jumped down and walked up to Inuyasha. Gaara and Naruto watched while Kagome was growing frustrated at Inuyasha's tendencies to start fights.

"That's not what it looked like!" she said. Inuyasha growled at what she said and from actually coming up to him.

"Why you little-"

"Inuyasha! Sit!" said Kagome. The rosary around Inuyasha's neck glowed and pulled him down to the floor. "Why do you always want to start fights!? And why pick a fight with someone who is younger than you!?" Naruto and Gaara jumped down to ground and walked over to Tsukiko, who was kind of surprised at what just happened.

"Wow, are you okay?" asked Naruto to Inuyasha, who was laying on the ground face-first.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" mumbled Inuyasha.

"That looked like it hurt."

"You don't know the half of it."

Inuyasha finally got up and looked at Kagome angrily.

"How did you do that?" asked Tsukiko.

"The rosary around his neck pulls him to the ground whenever I say the word 'sit'." replied Kagome, which caused Inuyasha to be pulled back down to the ground.

"Stop saying that!" yelled Inuyasha.

"Whoops, I guess it slipped."

"Are you sure it wasn't intentional!?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

"Tsukiko, Naruto, it's time to go." interuppted Gaara.

"You're not actually leaving, are you!?" asked Kagome.

"Gaara doesn't like to stay in one place for too long. I don't know why but he just doesn't." replied Naruto.

"But you don't have to leave us! We're about to head out ourselves. We could at least travel together."

"Please, Gaara? Can we just travel with them?" asked Tsukiko.

"Yeah, c'mon! There's no harm in traveling with them!" added Naruto.

"Alright, fine. We'll travel with them." answered Gaara.

"Yes!!" said Kagome, Naruto, and Tsukiko at the same time.

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"Hey, Inuyasha, why are you so bent on killing that Naraku guy?" asked Naruto. Everyone was already out walking on a worn path and they were now a considerable distance away from the village.

"Don't you ever shut up?" said Inuyasha, not planning on telling him the reason why.

"Geez, sorry I asked! What about you guys?"

"Naraku has my younger brother and he's the reason why almost the entire village of demon slayers are dead." replied Sango.

"So you and your brother are the only survivors?"

"Hey, that kind of sounds like that friend of yours." said Tsukiko to Naruto.

"Don't remind me. Anyway, what about you, Miroku?"

"Naraku placed a curse on my grandfather called the Wind Tunnel." replied Miroku.

"A curse?"

"Yes, it passes through the generations. On my right hand, there's a hole that sucks up anything that it pulls in. The only way to get rid of this curse is if we kill Naraku."

"Why are you here?" asked Tsukiko to Shippo.

"I'm helping them collect jewel shards! Besides, this team would be nothing without me!"

"Yeah, keep on dreaming, Shippo!" commented Inuyasha.

"It's true! You guys need me just as much as you need Kagome to sense jewel shards!"

"You can sense jewel shards?" asked Gaara to Kagome.

"Um, yeah, I can. It's nothing really...Hey, I sense one right now. And it's coming fast!"

Everyone looked around until a whirlwind blew at them out of nowhere. When the wind settled, there was a guy with long black hair holding Kagome's hands.

"Hello again, Kagome." he said.

"Oh, hey Koga. It's nice to see you again."

"Too bad I can't say the same thing!" said Inuyasha, pulling Kagome away from the wolf demon.

"Hello, mutt-face! Have you been taking care of Kagome?"

"Who are you calling mutt-face!?"

"The only mutt-face that is standing before me!"

"Mutt-face? That's a good one!" laughed Tsukiko and Naruto.

"Glad to see that some people appreciate the insults I give you." said Koga.

"You think you're the only one with the insults, ya mangy wolf? Why don't you go back to the mountains and play with your flea-bag wolves!"

"I take that as an insult! The wolves I summon don't have fleas!" said Tsukiko.

"You actually took the time to look through your wolves' fur?" asked Naruto.

"What? There's nothing wrong with that! I need to make sure that they are ready to fight instead of scratching themselves!"

"Looks like someone knows how to take care of her wolves." said Koga. "Alright, where's that stench coming from?"

"If you're talking about the scent of blood, it's from Gaara's gourd." answered Naruto.

"And why does it smell like blood?"

"There's no reason for you to know." replied Gaara.

"I don't like your attitude."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, and that emotionless look on your face is really bugging me too."

"There's a reason for that!" said Tsukiko, trying to prevent a fight. "Gaara doesn't like to show his emotions around people. Now let's just drop the subject and talk about something else."

"For once, I agree with you." said Inuyasha.

"Well, I don't want to stick around so I'll just be going now. See you later, Kagome!"

Koga took off and a whirlwind surrounded him as he ran off. Tsukiko sighed in relief because if she didn't say anything then there would have been a fight between Koga and Gaara.

"Hey, I'm confused. Kagome, are you Inuyasha's girlfriend or Koga's?"

"Huh? No, I'm not Koga's girlfriend!" she replied while blushing.

"So you're Inuyasha's girlfriend?"

"Uh..." Kagome blushed another shade of red and turned around to hide her face.

"Tsukiko." said Gaara, ignoring the conversation taking place.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Stop involving yourself in my affairs. It concerns me and only me, not you."

"Okay." she said, looking down.

"Wait a minute!" interuppted Naruto. "She only did that so a fight wouldn't break out! I mean, if there was, you probably might kill the guy!"

"What? You would kill Koga?" said Kagome, concern in her voice.

"And why, exactly, does your gourd reek of blood?" added Inuyasha.

"It is something that involves my past and THAT doesn't concern you." replied Gaara, walking away. "Tsukiko, Naruto, it is time that we leave. We can not stay because we don't belong here...Like everywhere else." Tsukiko looked at the others and bowed to them. "Thanks for all that you've done for us. I'm sorry that we can't stay any longer." Tsukiko ran off after Gaara and began to walk next to him. Naruto sighed and waved goodbye and caught up with his friends.

"I can't believe they're leaving already." said Kagome. "We didn't even get to know them better."

"I can tell that Gaara has had a troubled past. And I think that it relates to why his gourd smells like blood." said Sango, watching the teenagers get farther and farther away.

"The only problem is that he refuses to tell us about it." added Miroku.

"Just so you guys know, those three have demons sealed within them." said Shippo.

"They do!?" said Kagome, Sango, and Miroku at the same time.

"Yeah, I think they called themselves jinchuurikis. They are basically humans with demons inside of them."

"They are not truly demons since we would be able to sense their auras." said Miroku.

"Exactly, but I guess where they come from, people see them for their demons and not for themselves."

"Wow, no wonder they don't like to talk about their pasts." said Kagome.

"Would you guys stop babbling and keep walking!?" said Inuyasha in an annoyed tone. "They are gone so there is no use talking about them and their problems."

"How can you say that!? I bet that Naruto, Gaara, and Tsukiko all have traumatizing pasts. And you don't care about that!?"

"As a matter of fact, I don't! Our main concern right now is gathering the jewel shards, not worrying about three ninja teenagers with demons in them! They can do what they want and we'll do what we want!"

"But what if they can help us!?"

"We've made it far together and we can keep going."

"Inuyasha, you can be impossible sometimes!"

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"Did we really have to leave?" asked Naruto to Gaara.

"Yes. If I told them that I used to kill people for a purpose, they would obviously be afraid of me."

"I don't think so. They looked like they would understand!"

"Looks can be deceiving, Naruto."

"We should have at least stayed with them so that we would know the geography of this land."

"Stop trying to think of excuses to stay with them."

"I'm not! I'm just trying to prepare us for what may happen! Besides, why do you care what they would think of you? That never bothered you before!"

"Naruto, if we told them what Gaara and I used to do, they wouldn't look at us the same way." said Tsukiko.

"They will only look at us with fear because they will know that we are capable of killing them. And I don't want to go through that again." added Gaara.

"Okay, okay! I get it now! They will be afraid of us just like everyone else is back home."

"We don't have a home anymore, remember?" said Tsukiko.

"Oh, right."

* * *

Aw, they split up! Hm, I wonder if they'll reunite? I guess that's for me to know and for the readers to find out in later chapters!


	5. Priestess of the Dark Arts

Jinchuurikis in a Land of Demons

The trio of jinchuurikis had only walked for fifteen minutes until Tsukiko stopped completely. Gaara and Naruto both stopped too and looked back at her. Her violet eyes obviously had a look of frustration and was glaring at them, particularly at the red-head. Although, he wasn't all too intimidated by it and it really wasn't much of a surprise.

"I really think we should go back." she said, arms crossing over her chest in an authoritative way.

"And I think we should keep going." replied Gaara, emotionlessly.

"Hey, we don't know anything about this place! We have a better chance surviving being with them!" her voice taken over by anger.

"We came this far already. There's no difference going on by ourselves."

"You just don't want to be with them because you don't like talking about your past! And I think that you don't _have_ to talk about it!"

At that, Gaara glared at her. Naruto began to feel uneasy of the atmosphere between them. It was, after all, a clash between an emotional girl and a stoic boy, two complete opposites.

"Hey, guys," he started. "We shouldn't fight."

They both turned their glares to him and Naruto regretted saying anything at all. Now he had to deal with their intense gazes. Luckily, Tsukiko shut her eyes and looked down.

"If you're not going to go back to Kagome and the others, then I'm staying right here!"

"All right then." said Gaara, already walking away. Naruto's jaw dropped in surprise. He _really_ didn't see that coming. Even Tsukiko muttered a confused "Huh?" at what the red-head said.

"We can't leave her behind!" yelled Naruto. "Or else she'll be _alone_!" he put extra emphasis on the last word, passing the hint to Gaara.

"How can she be alone if she has _them_?" he hit back at the blonde. Tsukiko angrily walked up to Gaara and looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Gaara, I swear, if we don't go back, I'll make every day after today the most miserable ever in your lifetime! And you know I'm _very_ capable of doing that!"

"There's no point in bluffing."

"You think I'm bluffing!?"

When it came to Tsukiko, doubting her was kind of stupid. She was the kind of person who absolutely _loves _proving people wrong. Mostly because she likes to rub it in their faces. And doubting a threat of hers was, to put it mildly, idiotic. Not that Gaara was an idiot, mind you, but he kind of enjoyed pushing her like this. He liked to see the mixed emotions in her eyes: anger, frustration, and determination.

"All right. Fine." said Gaara, walking back from where they came. "You're too stubborn to change your mind and I know that you'll find a way to have us all go back and join the others."

"What can I say?" said Tsukiko, following him. "I like to have things _my_ way."

"Hey, how far do you think they are?" asked Naruto, trailing behind them.

"Hm? Oh, not too far, I bet." replied Tsukiko.

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"Hurry up, Inuyasha!" pressured Kagome. She had convinced the half-demon to find Gaara, Naruto, and Tsukiko a little after they departed from them. Now, Inuyasha was sniffing the ground, trying to pick up a scent from the three.

"I'd like to see _you_ try and do this!" he yelled back.

He took a couple more sniffs before finally getting up. "Found them." he said, following the scent trail.

"I hope they're alright." said Sango with concern.

"I'm sure they are fine." assured Miroku, following Inuyasha.

"I hope you're right!" said Shippo, jumping onto Kagome's shoulder. "They're not too familiar with the demons here, you know!"

The group continued onward, hoping that they'll reach the three jinchuurikis soon. Fortunately, they did since the trio was looking for them too.

"So," asked Inuyasha. "What made you guys decide to come back?"

"Let's just say that Tsukiko is _very_ persuasive." answered Naruto. "She convinced Gaara to rejoin you."

"What did you say to him?" asked Kagome to Tsukiko.

"Nothing, really." she replied modestly.

"Where, exactly, will we be heading off too?" asked Gaara.

"Wherever the wind takes us, I suppose." replied Miroku.

Now that they were all together, they headed off. They weren't roaming aimlessly, just wherever they felt was the right direction. After half an hour or so, the group came across a village. It wasn't too big or small, but a decent size. At most, maybe thirty to forty people lived there. Once arriving here, the group decided it would be better to split up in order to get more information about any leads to Naraku. They went in different directions so they could cover more ground which was very sensible. Kagome had no luck whatsoever. Miroku didn't either but he did have some luck with some of the women in the village, much to the great discontent of Sango who happened to be close enough to catch him. Inuyasha, Tsukiko, and Gaara pretty much got useless information that didn't concern them at all. Luckily, however, one of them found some rather interesting information. Naruto had asked a farmer about any "demonic" happenings near the village.

"I'm not too sure if it is demonic but I'll tell you this," replied the man. "Some where in the forest west of this village lives a demon girl. Every time someone from our village gets close to her home, they die of illness five days later! Isn't it obvious that it's the work of a demon?"

"Yeah, I guess so." said Naruto, rubbing the back of his head. "Is this forest far from here?"

"No, it isn't. Do you plan on going there?"

"Of course I'm going! This is something that my friends and I should really check out!"

"Have you lost your mind!? Do you want to die?!!?"

"Um, no. But I'm going to do it anyway!"

Naruto walked away, leaving the farmer in complete shock. He looked around the village for everyone else and soon found them together, telling each other of their misfortunate tasks. "Hey, guys!" Naruto yelled to them. "I found out something that might lead us to Naraku!" He went over to them and told them about the information he received from the farmer.

"A demon girl?" said Tsukiko, seeming quite interested in all this.

"I think we should see who she really is." said Kagome.

"But how do we know for sure that she might lead us to Naraku?" asked Inuyasha. "It could be just a waste of time!"

"Did it occur to you that she might know something?" asked Miroku. "It would be definitely worth checking."

"And she's obviously not an ordinary girl. Don't you think we should investigate that?" added Sango.

Gaara stood quiet, taking in all of this information. He had nothing to add to all of this so there was really no point in saying anything.

"Don't you think we should get going now?" he finally said, somewhat impatient.

"Right! We should leave now!" said Naruto.

They left the village and traveled west, where the girl is said to reside in. It really didn't take too long to get there, only twenty minutes or less. They were all very cautious as to where this "demon" girl might live exactly. After some time of searching, they found a shrine-looking hut (or house) in a small clearing somewhere in the forest. They would have preceded further had not someone come out of the "shrine". It was obviously a girl. She had long, dark red hair and was wearing an all black kimono as well. She looked to be about seventeen or eighteen. Everyone else had hidden themselves in the trees or bushes but managed to still get a good view of her. And it seemed like she was holding something in her hand. It was a chicken, an alive one, and she was holding it by it's feet. The chicken had a small piece of rope tied around its body to keep it from using its wings. There was another longer piece of rope tied around its feet, where the girl was holding it.

She walked toward a tree, fortunately not one where any of them were in, and flung the long rope over a branch. She pulled it so that the chicken was suspended in the air by it and tied it to the trunk of the tree. She put her hands together, probably praying. She took out a dagger from one of her kimono sleeves and decapitated the helpless chicken. A waterfall of blood poured out of where the head used to be and splattered onto the ground below it. The girl then took out a small wooden container and filled it up with the blood. She placed a cap on it so that it was sealed tightly. She sighed and a small, hardly noticable smile appeared on her face.

"You know," she said rather loudly. "I know where you are. I can hear your thoughts. There's no point in hiding anymore."

Everyone came out of their hiding places and appeared in front of her.

"How long did you know we were here?" asked Tsukiko.

"Since I came out." she replied. "One of you thinks a little too loudly."

"It was you, wasn't it!?" yelled Tsukiko to Naruto.

"Hey! Don't blame this on me!" he yelled back.

"Would you all like to come inside?" asked the girl.

"Wait a minute," said Kagome. "Aren't you going to...kill us or something?"

"Why would I do that?"

"We heard a little thing about you that you killed whoever got near here." replied Inuyasha.

"Let me guess: the villagers told you that. Come inside and I'll explain everything to you."

Everyone followed her inside which didn't look as nice as it did outside. There was a fire in the middle of the spacious room and the girl sat beside it, the others taking their own seats around it.

"First of all, my name is Akane. What are your names?"

The group introduced their names to her and when they were done, another small smile appeared on Akane's face.

"So when are you going to start explaining?" asked Inuyasha impatiently.

"Right now. I was born in that village that you just came from. However, I was abandoned by both my parents and they disappeared from the village. No one really knows where they had gone to. I went from family to family, staying here, staying there. As I grew, I noticed that I had a strange gift. That gift was the ability to hear the thoughts of others. It was a matter of time before everyone knew of this. Soon, the villagers began to see me as some sort of demon or thought I was possessed by one. Eventually, they drove me out of the village. I came to these woods and made my home here. But, I had help, too, from-"

"Akane!!" yelled someone from behind Akane. Arms that were also wearing black kimono sleeves wrapped themselves around Akane. It surprised Akane so much that she even let out a small "Eeep!" noise.

"Damn it, Hiro! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Akane quickly got up and rushed backward so that whoever was behind her got smashed against the wall. It caused them to let go and Akane immediately moved away. A boy who looked the same age as Akane stared at her with some disappointment. He had slightly messy black hair that came down to his eyes but didn't seem to offer any obstruction to his vision. His kimono was also all black but was more masculine than Akane's.

"I don't think it's fair that you sneak up on me and yet I can't do it to you." said Hiro.

"Can't you see that I'm talking to some guests!?" yelled a now angry Akane.

"What? We have guests?" said Hiro, finally looking over to the fire and noticing everyone there.

"Dear Kami, you are so oblivious! Now sit down, shut up, and if you interrupt, I'll rip that tongue right out of your mouth!"

"Whoa," thought Naruto. "She's worse than Tsukiko when it comes to threats!"

Hiro obediantly sat down next to the fire, being as quiet as can be. Akane took her seat again, which was next to Hiro.

"This is Hiro." she said with a suddenly calm voice. "He's the only friend I had when I lived in the village. When I got driven out, he left and followed me to this forest. He's always been with me ever since."

"There was no way that I was going to let you live on your own." said Hiro.

Akane cast him a glare which made him, and everyone else, remember the threat earlier. "I'm letting you off with a warning." she said, turning back to the fire. However, Hiro didn't seem too bothered by this since he smiled at her.

"Akane, we heard that you killed people. Is that true?" asked Sango.

"Yes, it's true. I won't deny it. But I'll have you know that the people who 'came near here' were actually looking for me so they can kill me. I wasn't going to let them get off that easily and I didn't want them to come back so I had to get rid of them."

"How did you kill them?" asked Gaara, slightly intrigued.

"That's easy. See, I'm a priestess of the dark arts."

"You're a...Dark priestess?" asked Kagome, a little uneasy.

"Correct. I placed a curse on my assasins in order to kill them."

"But how did you fight them off when you met them?" said Naruto.

"Oh, Hiro took care of that. He's quite skilled with a sword, you know."

"Thanks for the compliment!" said Hiro, happily.

"That wasn't a compliment. I was only stating a fact."

"And that makes it better!"

"Before I forget, did you get what I asked you to get?"

"Hm? Oh, you mean _that_? Of course I did! I left it outside."

"Thank you, Hiro. Now go get it."

"Okay."

Hiro got up and walked out of the "shrine".

"You sure are kind of bossy to him." said Shippo to Akane.

"It's ironic, actually. He's a winter older than me." (A/N: She means a YEAR older.)

Hiro then walked back in, carrying a dead deer over his shoulders. He placed it carefully down in the corner of the room and walked back to the fire.

"Why do you need a deer?" asked Tsukiko.

"I need it's antlers and hooves...And also its bones. I use the antlers and hooves for curses, and the bones for divinations. Would you like me to do one for you?"

"Um, I'm not too sure about this."

"Don't worry. It's completely safe and simple. So?"

"I guess so..."

"Everyone out!!" yelled Akane to the group. "The room must be empty of other consciences except for me and the participant. So out!"

Everyone left the room, along with Hiro, while Inuyasha and Naruto were grumbling about it.

"Is anyone else going to do a divination?" asked Hiro.

"Uh, no thank you." answered Kagome. Sango, Shippo, and Gaara shook their heads in reply. "I'll pass." said both Inuyasha and Naruto.

"It's because she's a dark priestess, isn't it?" said Hiro, a little disappointed.

"We have nothing against her," said Kagome. "It's just that...we had a bad tangle with a dark priestess before."

"Oh, I see. I don't think that Akane would put curses on you. You all seem like good people and I'm sure Akane sees that."

Meanwhile, inside, Tsukiko and Akane sat across from each other, the fire separating them. Akane got up and went to a shelf hanging from the left wall. She picked up a large bowl and walked back to her seat. She placed the bowl to the side of the fire and looked at Tsukiko straight in the eye. It was then that Tsukiko noticed her eyes. They were a navy blue color and had a melancholy look to them.

"Inside that bowl is bones. Pick one and toss it in the fire. I'll read the cracks and burns on the bone and tell you what you will come across later."

Tsukiko picked up a bone and tossed it in the flames. Small cracking noises could be heard and Akane stared intently at the fire. After five minutes, Akane closed her eyes and looked up at Tsukiko. Her eyes opened and she stared at the blue-haired girl.

"I see death in a canyon. You, Gaara, and Naruto are all involved in it."

"We're going to die!?"

"I didn't say that. I just said that I see death. It could be anyone. However, the three of you play a part in it."

"Oh. So it's our fault."

"Not exactly. But what good does blaming someone do?"

"I know what you mean."

"That's all for now. Do you want to go outside?"

"Yeah, we're pretty much done here."

Akane and Tsukiko got up and walked out of the "shrine".

"It's about time!" said Inuyasha. "Can you be any slower in divining something?"

"Does anyone else want a divination?" asked Akane to Hiro, completely ignoring the half-demon.

"No."

"Hey!" yelled Inuyasha. "I was talking to you!"

"And I am ignoring you." said Akane. "Anyway, I hope you three," she said, pointing at Gaara, Naruto, and Tsukiko. "Are prepared for death. And I don't mean that as in placing a curse on you. Tsukiko will tell you later about it."

"Out of curiousity," started Miroku. "But do you know of a demon named Naraku?"

"Naraku? No, I can't say that I have."

"Ah, see we're trying to find him and get rid of him, if you know what I mean."

"Yes, I know. Oh, before I forget," Akane extended her hand in the give-me-money gesture. "You need to pay up for that divination."

"You didn't say anything about paying!" said Tsukiko.

"What? You're broke?"

At that, everyone avoided eye contact with her. Hiro laughed lightly at what was going on. Akane sighed and crossed her arms.

"Okay, you can pay me in some other way."

"That's awfully nice of you." commented Hiro, which Akane responded by glaring at him.

"What do you have in mind?" asked Gaara.

"I want two things: A ribbon or bow, and something sweet. Oh, and the ribbon MUST be black. Got that?"

"You want a ribbon and sweet food?" said Kagome, a little surprised.

"Yes. Is it too much to ask for?"

"No, I think I could get all those things when I go back to my time. But you don't want this right away, do you?"

"As long as you get it, it's fine."

"You're one weird priestess." said Naruto.

"Speaking of priestesses, there's someone I know who might be able to help you out. I'm not too sure if she'll go along with it, but we can try."

"Where does this priestess live?" asked Sango.

"A village south of here. It's a little far but we can get there before sunset."

"So, she can help lead us to Naraku?"

"I'm not sure about that. For one, she's a horribly bitter and cold person, and not all too friendly, especially towards demons. Secondly, me and her don't like each other very much. I respect her, being a priestess, but I dislike her greatly."

"And yet you didn't kill her." said Gaara.

"No, she can ward off curses. So would you all like to try and get help from her?"

"Yeah, sure." answered Inuyasha.

"Are you really sure? Remember, she doesn't like demons, full-fledged nor half-breeds."

"Don't call me a half-breed! And I'm not afraid of some priestess who hates demons. She'll think twice before she messes with me!"

Akane tilted her head slightly at Inuyasha, with a somewhat amused look. Another barely noticable smile appeared on her lips.

"All right. I'll lead you to the village where she lives in."

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"There it is! That's the village!" said Hiro, enthusiastically.

"Now, there's something that you must know," said Akane, turning toward the group. "A set of small rules that you have to follow."

"Rules? Why do we need to follow some stupid rules for?" asked Inuyasha in an irritated tone of voice.

"Do you want to lose a fang? There's someone in that village who's a little...unstable, I should say. So, here are the rules..."

* * *

Here's the long awaited chapter. I'm very sorry for not updating for a LONG while. I just needed more inspiration and I was working on other stories. And I was also taking a break from writing new chapters...


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